I wasn't aware of this, but apparently Richard Fry, frequent poster to radio and Part 15 Forums, passed away earlier this year. It was mentioned today in that vast repository for obituaries, Hobbybroadcaster (I always give credit where it's due).
While sometimes tending to be overly argumentative imo, Richard kept things honest here and elsewhere, and mellowed as time went on. He certainly had a vast store of technical knowledge and was willing to share it. I wondered where he had gone.
The post(s) at Hobbybroadcaster stated that they didn't want to speak ill of those who are gone, and then proceeded to lambast him. If it wasn't so sad it would be amusing - it says more about those posters than Richard. I guess they couldn't stand being schooled by someone who was far more knowledgeable than they were.
It is never pleasant to hear about the death of someone who played a role in our own life experience, and I also have been wondering why we've not recently heard from Mr. Fry.
I was right there entering disputes with things Richard said and he never backed off. But in the aftermath I am not inclined to characterize him except to feel sorry that he is gone.
He will always be part of the Part15 story even though he never built a small station of his own. I guess this forum was his station.
After reading of his experiences in radio from his obituary, I have to think that doing Part 15 radio would have seemed to him as playing with toys. Which to some extent it is, at least on the transmitter/antenna side. The sound and programming side of things can be just as complicated (and rewarding) as the licensed 'big boy' stations.
I have to give it to him. He never tried to pass himself off as more than what he was - an experienced technical radio engineer. And he provided valuable information to this Forum and Part 15 in general.
Running a part 15 station can absolutely be classed as 'toyish', but that is not to denigrate it, any more than complaining that the model train hobby provides questionable passenger service. The retirement years can be depressing for the person with no sense of purpose, and these sophisticated hobbies are able to do exactly that: give us a reason to carry on and anyone is ill advised to belittle another persons fantasy pastime. I remember feeling that Mr. Fry lacked the insight to understand that 'make believe' was a key component of this hobby and I surmised that his military background might explain why his worldview seemed starkly literal with no place for nonsense. There's a psychological depth to encounters with Rich, so I thought.
I remember him having zero tolerance for those that claimed to be running under Part 15 rules, with outlandish range claims, and yet obviously weren't.
He had rigid views of the Part 15 rules, far too pedantic imo, but those views certainly led to interesting discussions. Rules, like anything written in the English language, are subject to interpretation.
But I found his opinions much easier to take than those of some on other Forums, and there is simply no arguing with his radio background. He knew what he was talking about. A lot in other Forums simply don't.
I'm going to miss his posts.
Sad to hear of his passing as he was a valuable contributer to this forum.
He was the technical advisor and although some of his illustrations were a little complicated for the layman to understand, he posted valuable information correcting us with facts if we were wrong.
I was just recently looking for a past post he made illustrating what a field strength at 3 meters would be at 30 meters but couldn't find it. But his illustration I remember clearly showed that much more than 1000uV/m @ 3 meters would be needed to have 100uV/m at 30 meters.
I wish I could find that post.
I do agree with artisan that if he had zero tolerance for exaggerated claims of part 15 operators saying they were getting unrealistic ranges with a part 15 certified AM transmitter he was most likely right as he knew no matter what you do 100mW, even if you get that at the antenna, can only go so far in the best of conditions with a compliant set up.
Even though the folks at Hobbybroadcaster didn't want to "speak ill of the deceased", they continue to do so. Some of it is laughable - you have to read the 'proof' that Richard Fry didn't know as much as he thought he did. It's at the level of gossip. The rest is pretty disgusting, particularly since the individual isn't around to defend himself.
Why bother? Well, I believe the real reason they're doing this 'over there' is that Richard dared to leave that Forum in his later years, and come over to Part15.org. As I stated previously, he didn't suffer fools gladly.
Something that puzzles me about the hobbycaster site is that its webmaster doesn't own or operate a part 15 station. He mainly uses his forum to brag about being a 'real' radio engineer and criticize ordinary part 15 hobbyists while hosting his small group of fellow believers who earn their welcome by never disagreeing.
He does mention casually that he runs a station in various posts, but has never, to my knowledge, revealed any technical details about it. It doesn't show up in the website's station profiles, or, at least it didn't the last time I visited them.
Kind of weird, that someone who advocates Part 15 broadcasting doesn't shout what he's doing from the rooftops.